Antique Clocks (Part 3 Of 3)

AMERICAN CLOCKS

For purposes of convenient and comprehensive classification I will
divide these early American clocks into four somewhat arbitrary groups:
miscellaneous tall clocks, clocks by the Willard brothers and their
imitators, Connecticut clocks by Terry and others, and the shelf or mantel
clocks of the early nineteenth century.

During the eighteenth century the American tall clocks were of many
styles and grades, from the cheapest pine cases and wooden works to
expensive ones with finely engraved brass faces, brass works, the moon's
phases in the arch above the dial, and fine mahogany cases. The best of
these old American tall clocks are much prized by collectors. The faces
were usually square, with circular dials; the arch above is
variable.

The finest of these clocks were made just prior to the Revolution.
After 1790 fewer expensive clocks and more cheap ones were made, to
conform with post-bellum hard times. After 1790 the tall clocks
almost invariably bore plain metal or wooden faces, painted or enameled
in white, with colored decorations. Elaborate brass faces were seldom
used. Wooden works became more common, for the same reason, often
improved by bearings made of hard bone or horn. Painted pine cases became far
more common than mahogany.

In these old days clock-makers frequently made the works alone, and
these were sold about the country by peddlers. Local cabinet-makers
were hired to make the cases. This accounts for the wide variety in style,
quality, and materials. Sometimes the clock-maker's name is found,
sometimes the owner's, and sometimes the local carpenter's; a study of
American tall clocks by style and signature is at times far from
satisfactory. These tall clocks were made in America up to 1815 or 1820, and were
then discontinued until the recent Colonial revival.

In the South but few clocks were made. Tall clocks were in general
use, but they were chiefly English. In some cases the works were brought
from England or the North and the cases made by Southern
cabinet-makers.

A few miscellaneous types of American clocks of this period might be
mentioned in passing: miniature grandfather clocks, three or four feet
tall; inlaid, lyre-shaped clocks after the style of Sheraton, and
brass-mounted mahogany clocks in the Empire style. During this time several
towns in Connecticut were gaining a reputation as centers for the
manufacture of ingenious, cheap Yankee clocks.

Eli Terry was the most famous of the Connecticut clock-makers, as
well as one of the first. He began clock-manufacture as a business in
1793. James Harrison made clocks in Waterbury as early as i']qo, and
Daniel Burnap made brass clocks at East Windsor at an early date. Their work
does not begin to rank in importance with Terry's, however.
Eli Terry was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, in April, 1772, and,
while a boy, showed a marked mechanical bent. Before he was twenty-one
he had made several wall clocks of wood. In 1793 he went to Plymouth, in
Litchfield County, Connecticut, and began making wooden clocks as a
business.He also made works for tall clocks and sold them to peddlers. By
1800 he had some help, but no machinery, making his clocks entirely
with saw, jack-knife, and file. He was able to make and sell only a few
each year, at about $25 apiece.

In 1807 Terry bought an old mill in Plymouth and got a contract for
five hundred clocks from some men in Waterbury. The first consignment
of clocks made by machinery in this country was turned out in 1808, the
whole five hundred having been started at once. In 1810 Seth Thomas and
Silas Hoadley bought out the Terry factory and continued the
manufacture of works for tall cases. There were then similar establishments in
Waterbury.

Terry made several styles of clocks. Most of them had wooden works
which were so well made that some of them are still good timekeepers.
They were peddled all over New England.

There were many other successful clock-makers of lesser importance
in Connecticut. About 1818 an excellent eight-day clock of brass was
invented by Joseph Ives, and later brass clocks were made in large
quantities by Chauncey Jerome and exported to England. He also made a very
cheap clock with an octagonal face.

In the meantime, Massachusetts manufacturers had been proceeding
along slightly different lines. The most famous of them were the three
Willard brothers, who made clocks at Grafton, Massachusetts, as early as
1765. Later they manufactured also in Boston and Roxbury. They made tall
striking clocks at first, and about 1784 they designed a mahogany shelf
or bracket clock about twenty-six inches high. Another form of Willard
clock stood two or three feet high, with the lower portion slightly
larger across than the upper.

The famous banjo shape is usually attributed to Simon Willard,
though it may have been designed by his brother Aaron. It was a graceful
and conveniently arranged form of pendulum clock for the wall; it dates
from about 1790, and was made in Boston up to about 1820.

The works were of brass, ran for eight days, and kept good time.
There was no striker in most of the banjo clocks. A few were made with
strike and alarm attachments, but I have heard of only half a dozen of
these in existence today.The cases were made of various combinations of
mahogany, gilt wood, decorated glass, and brass. There were some
elaborate ones made about 1815-1820, but at first they were neat and
comparatively plain.Banjo clocks were selling as low as $10 in 1807-due, no
doubt, to sharp Connecticut competition.

In 1814 Eli Terry introduced a short shelf or mantel clock which
was, in principle, a tall clock compressed, though not in the form of the
miniatures.It was a wooden clock, with shorter pendulum and weights
than were formerly in use.It had pillars at the sides twenty-one inches
long, a square base, and a dial eleven inches square. This clock became
very popular and sold for $15.

Terry made other styles, and other makers made various forms of
mantel clocks for both kitchen and parlor. Many of them were oblong in
shape with square corners. Some were in frames of plain mahogany molding;
some were of rosewood and inlay; some had Colonial pillars of wood or
composition at the sides, with gilt bands or ornaments. The front
generally consisted of a glass door, sometimes plain but usually painted.
Often a landscape and occasionally a portrait appears on the glass below
the dial. Sometimes we find mirrors in the lower part. Some of these
mantel clocks are handsome, but for the most part they are extremely plain
and sensible. A paper notice giving the name of the maker is often
found pasted on the inside of the case, behind the pendulum.Prior to 1820
the date is seldom given.

By 1837 practically all clock works were made of brass, and were
much improved and cheaper.With this date ends the period of old
clocks.

There are several collectors in this country who make a specialty of
clocks, and a delightful specialty it is.Any suggestions that I can
offer, however, will be for the owner of one old clock, or at most a
specimens, in connection with other Colonial possessions.

Of course antique clocks can be counterfeited, like everything else,
but a little study of genuine specimens in museums and elsewhere will
help the purchaser to know what to look for in case, works, and dial.
The greatest danger is in paying an eighteenthcentury price for a
nineteenth-century clock with an eighteenth-century dial, or some similar
fraudulent combination. It is wise to examine and compare all the
parts.